San Benito County issues vaccine requirement for public safety workers

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION) San Benito County Interim Public Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci announced Wednesday that employees and contractors who provide fire and emergency medical services for the County, City of Hollister and City of San Juan Bautista will be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The workers will be required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30. Members of law enforcement will need to provide documentation of full vaccination or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

The order will take effect on Thursday, and Dr. Ghilarducci said it expands on a state public health order requiring employees in high-risk health and congregate settings to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30.

Ghilarducci said vaccines are especially important for fire, emergency medical services and law enforcement personnel because they are critical to public health and safety and because they are often in high-risk health care and congregate settings.

Multiple Hollister firefighters test positive for COVID-19

On Tuesday, Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez confirmed that 8 of the 44 employees of the Hollister Fire Department tested positive for COVID-19. Only one of them was vaccinated.

Read the full health order below.